The Swedish golfer Jesper Parnevik, who introduced Tiger Woods to his wife Elin Nordegren in 2001, has admitted he thought Woods "was a better guy than he is" after the world No1 confessed to a number of "transgressions" in his personal life. He also added that, rather than use a three-iron in the incident, she should have used a driver.

"I would be especially sad about it – I really feel sorry for Elin – since me and my wife were at fault for hooking her up with him," Parnevik said. "We probably thought he was a better guy than he is. I probably would have to apologise to her and hope she uses a driver next time rather than a three-iron, I would say.

"It's a private thing of course but when you are the guy he is, the world's best athlete, you should think more before you do stuff," he added.

Woods crashed into a fire hydrant and a tree outside his home in Florida in the early hours of Friday morning, suffering facial lacerations which required hospital treatment. The accident prompted tabloid allegations which led to Woods' statement yesterday in which the golfer admitted to letting his family down and of being "far short of perfect". He also requested to be allowed to deal with the matter behind closed doors.

However, one of the women implicated in the allegations levelled at Woods will break her silence later today. The nightclub hostess Rachel Uchitel – who has previously denied any involvement with the golfer – will attend a press conference in Los Angeles.

The American 14-times major winner was scheduled to compete in his own tournament, the Chevron World Challenge, in California this week, but pulled out on Monday citing the injuries suffered in the crash. He is not scheduled to play again until next year.

On Tuesday, he was issued with a traffic citation for careless driving and fined $164 (£98) as the Florida Highway Patrol concluded its investigation into the crash, having been unable to speak to Woods himself.